Workbox Wednesday: Michael

Workboxes are great for the little ones, but my older children were somewhat resistant to the idea. To make it a little more palatable, I use file folders rather than boxes for my older two. Here is what Michael, my ten-year-old fifth grader, is up to.
Today was the feast of Sts. Simon and Jude. Michael read about St. Jude in A Year With God. It was a rather cutting edge graphic novel presentation of the saint's life. Very cool. He then made a main lesson book page.

Next he visited Spelling City on our very messy computer and practiced his spelling words. Test tomorrow! Also, looking at the picture, there's some weird shadow stuff going on. Our computer area is messy, but not that messy!

Next he revised some writing.

And then on to Life of Fred.

Fellowship of the Rings was next.

And then grammar-- pronouns in Voyages in English. I generally try to make grammar more interesting, but today just opted for some exercises in the text book.

Then he moved into the kitchen for Calculadder, a timed math drill we do several times a week. To save paper, I bought the CD-ROM from Rainbow Resource. I then printed them out and put them in page protectors in a binder so they can erase and re-do as needed.

Next was a logic puzzle. Michael is doing a critical thinking class at co-op and really enjoys these.

He conducted an experiment on how salt melts ice and lowers the melting point.
And then added a "lab report" to his science main lesson book.

Mad Libs--especially Star Wars Mad Libs-- are a great way to review the parts of grammar.

And finally, he wound things up by writing in his journal.

Keep in mind, his files are by no means a complete curriculum. He also has a main lesson with me each day, which lasts anywhere from 20 to 45 minutes. This month, we worked on folk tales, although as I admitted in an earlier post, October has been a bit of a loss. Every other week he also practices cello as part of his independent work (on alternate weeks his cello is at the local elementary school, where he participates in orchestra daily).